Jury rejects claim against Radnor Township by manager candidate

Although a jury declared Wednesday that his future military obligations were a factor in Radnor Township’s decision not to hire an Air Force major as manager in 2009, the same jury added that there were still other reasons as to why it did not hire him.

John J. Murphy, who is currently the city manager in Hobbs, New Mexico, filed suit in federal court in 2011 claiming that Radnor did not hire him as manager because of his future reserve military obligations when the township was looking for a new manager after firing its old manager, David Bashore, in 2009.

In its decision, the jury had to answer two questions.

The first question was whether Murphy’s ongoing reserve military obligations were a contributing factor in its decision not to hire him.

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Though the jury answered yes to that question, it was also tasked with the next question as to whether there were other reasons for Radnor not to have hired Murphy. Again, the jury decided the answer was yes.

In order for Murphy to have won the case, the jury would have had to find that there were no other reasons for the township not to have hired him.

Following the verdict, both sides declined comment.

In the suit that was filed in 2011, Murphy said Radnor officials expressed concern regarding his reserve military obligations. In doing so, he says, the township violated both federal and state laws that protect military personnel from job discrimination based on their future military obligations.

The trial ran most of the last week of February and lasted through the first week of March, with the expectations that the jury would begin deliberations last Friday. However, late in the day, the judge decided that it was getting too late and held off on having the jury begin deliberations until this week.

After a snow cancellation on Monday, the eight member jury of six men and two women began its deliberation on Tuesday at 10:47 a.m. When a decision still hadn’t come at the end of the day on Tuesday, the jury was called back on Wednesday when it finally announced a verdict shortly before noon. One of the jurors was excused in the morning, leaving the unanimous decision being made by the remaining seven members of the jury.

Outside the courtroom before the jury rendered its decision, Murphy said the case has never been about him, but about employers understanding that they cannot discriminate against someone based on their military obligations.

The township launched a nationwide search for a new township manager in 2009 by bringing in a consultant. The hiring consultant then conducted the nationwide search and received 76 applications for the post.

Radnor has said Murphy was not among the top 17 qualified of the candidates. Murphy, however, had been the put in with a group of eight who were interviewed based on the request of Commissioner John Fisher.

Murphy, the son of a retired Philadelphia police officer and raised in Northeast Philadelphia, had been working as the city manager in Wilkes-Barre, for several years before learning that Radnor was looking for a new manager. In court he said getting the job in Radnor was his chance to come home again.

In testimony during the trial, Radnor said the board believed that Murphy had overstated his qualifications and his role in turning around the troubled finances of the city of Wilkes-Barre when he was manager.

Murphy is also the brother of former Congressman Patrick Murphy who represented a district in Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County.

Among the issues that came up during the four-day trial was a phone call that Patrick Murphy made on behalf of his brother to the commissioners president at the time. The phone message from the congressman was never returned, but at least two of the members of the board testified that the phone call was seen as a negative for Radnor choosing to hire Murphy. Conversely, however, one board member took the opposite line and said he would have been surprised if Patrick Murphy hadn’t made a phone call for his brother, because those types of things are done regularly.

But there were other issues that also came up in court and in documents filed by the two sides.

There were also questions raised about a home security system that was installed in Murphy’s home in Wilkes-Barre in 2004. One of the problems was that the expense was not publicly disclosed until several years later when a newspaper learned about it.

When asked about it in court, Murphy said the reason why it was installed was that when the city was making some unpopular financial decisions to fix the city’s financial problems, someone came to his home dressed as a city worker. Although Murphy wasn’t home at the time, the man threatened his pregnant wife. Later, while the family was away, someone vandalized the home and left threatening notes on the door. So rather than post a police officer at the home 24 hours a day, the city agreed to install the security system.

The issue was also raised as to how much of a role Murphy played in fixing the problems in Wilkes-Barre, as opposed to what the elected mayor did.

Murphy said in testimony Tuesday that the mayor worked about in three hours a day because he had a full-time real estate business.

In the cross-examination on Wednesday, Murphy, when asked about his statement on the mayor’s work habits, he said he meant that the mayor worked three hours a day in city hall and then went out and conducted city business, such as cutting ribbons.

There were also disputes as to what was said to Murphy by former Radnor interim township manager John Granger.

Granger, in the interim position, was tasked with facilitating interviews with potential candidates in 2009 for Bashore’s replacement.

In his suit and during his testimony, Murphy claims that Granger told him prior to his interview that he was in his list of top candidates. Murphy added that after the interview, Granger called him and said some of the board members had concerns over his ongoing military commitments and he was not selected for a second interview.

On the stand Wednesday, Granger said he did not recall the conversations Murphy was referring to and that he would not have made some of the statements attributed to him.

Granger was brought in to be the township manager in Radnor temporarily while he was also township manager in Solebury Township in Bucks County.

According to Granger’s testimony, he planned on working for Radnor from April through Labor Day in 2009. In the end, he stayed until Dec. 31, 2009.

Granger disputed Murphy’s statements by telling the court that he did not have any favorites because he didn’t really care who Radnor hired. It was their decision, he said, and they had to work with the individual they chose.

Granger also responded to the accusation that he said some of the board members had concerns about Murphy’s future military obligations.

“I would never have said that,” Granger said in court.

Handwritten notes that Murphy said he jotted down shortly after the Radnor interview were also shown in court.

The notes referenced that Murphy said he was told he did a great job during the interview and he didn’t oversell his brother as a congressman.

What the notes didn’t reflect, as pointed out by Radnor’s attorney, was “the grilling” Murphy said he got by the commissioners over his military obligations. Murphy, in court said he didn’t think it was important at the time.